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DUCK & WAFFLE.

I’ve wanted to go to Duck and Waffle for god knows how long and last night I finally got my chance. When I started this blog my Mum offered to take me somewhere that I couldn’t afford so I could sample the finer things in life and make you all jealous. Initially I chose The Fat Duck but then I realized we aren’t made of money and that I’d have to save that for a special occasion. (hint hint nudge nudge rich people that love me) So I chose the next best thing, Duck and Waffle. All the way at the top on the 40th floor of the Heron Tower, right slam bang in the middle of the city, sits this exclusive little restaurant that’s signature dish is so good they named the place after it.

The first thing you need to know about Duck and Waffle is that if you’re afraid of heights, or lifts (elevators) or you don’t like experimenting with your food then this place isn’t for you. But that being said, my dad, the worlds fussiest eater, the man who only eats meat and carbs and the occasional brussel sprout, enjoyed his meal. The atmosphere and the ambiance and the setting is absolutely out of this world. Words cannot describe the view and the place is so unbelievably beautifully decorated its worth going just to feel like you’re rich and famous for the night. The whole experience is like nothing I’ve ever come across before and I could not get over the view. The whole restaurant is windowed so you can literally look out at the whole of London during your meal. Another perk is that the place is 24 hours. Yes, I’m being serious, a 24 hour restaurant on the 40th floor of one of the tallest buildings in London. It’s insane. You could genuinely go for a 5am post party breakfast and you’d be watching the whole of London wake up beneath you. It’s spectacular.

But forget the view, forget the decor, the most important thing is obviously the food. We ordered the Fois Gras ‘All day breakfast’ with Nutella to share. Much to my surprise this was ACTUALLY all day breakfast with Fois Gras and Nutella. I genuinely didn’t believe this could be possible. It consisted of a chunky slice of toasted brioche loaf with Nutella, candied bacon, a fried egg, black pudding, Fois Gras and a drizzle of brown sauce. Sounds gross, kinda was but in a way it was also sensational and I finished the whole thing. If you put aside the idea in your head of what you’re eating and just enjoy the flavours it’s an extremely enjoyably dish. Rich as fuck and I wouldn’t have it again but enjoyable nonetheless and if you go, you must try it. We also shared the Ox cheek doughnut with apricot jam. This was my least favourite dish but I still finished it all. It looked less like a doughnut and more like a scotch egg and the whole thing was covered in cinnamon (which they fail to tell you on the menu) it was REALLY doughy and only had the smallest bit of meat on the inside. It was just the strangest combination of flavours ever. I wish the cinnamon was just sugar and that it was little balls instead of one big ball but I still ate it, so it wasn’t that bad! Then we had the Roasted Essex beetroot with goats curd and honeycomb. This was probably the most normal and least sickening dish of all and the portion was really generous. It was a really pleasant dish and I recommend it to any vegetarians visiting Duck and Waffle. For main, all three of us ordered the obvious dish, crispy duck leg confit and a fried duck egg on a sweet waffle with mustard maple syrup. Somehow this is the cheapest main on the menu and at £15 is an absolute steal. Now I know you could probably recreate the whole thing at home for a lot cheaper but then you wouldn’t get the view and the setting and it just wouldn’t be the same. So if you go and just order just one thing then make sure it’s that, because OH MY GOD, it’s unreal. All I can say is that it works. The duck is sensational and the whole thing works so well you’ll wonder why it’s not a standard on every menu in the world. Before the main I made the bold statement that I wouldn’t go back but after my first bite of duck I retracted it immediately. After dinner, which pretty much tasted like dessert anyway, we ordered the battered Mars bar with malted ice cream and biscuit crunch. I’ve had my fair share of battered Mars bars and I don’t know why but I thought they’d do something different with it but they didn’t. It literally was just a battered Mars bar (which didn’t taste like fish like in the chippy) and a scoop of ice cream with a crushed biscuit garnish. Fucking delicious and if you’ve never had a battered Mars bar then you’ve got to try it but if I go back ill definitely order something different.

All in all it was an incredible experience, it wasn’t just ‘going out for dinner’ it was much, much more and I recommend it to anyone trying to impress a date or a friend or anyone looking experiment with flavours and try something out of the ordinary. I want to go back in the middle of the night and see what’s its like because I imagine that the place can get a hell of a lot wilder after hours…